Info Center is a collection of databases and directories designed to let readers dig deeper into the news and get a richer understanding of their community. Check here regularly for new information and updates to existing databases.

Some of what you learn here may surprise or concern you, and prompt you to comment or call us to investigate. Send suggestions or comments to The Gazette's data journalist, Perry Swanson.

Visit the Data Geek blog, where Gazette data journalist Perry Swanson dives into data that reveal insights about how people live in the Pikes Peak region. Recent headlines:

• How to track what El Paso County lawmakers are doing in Denver
• Colorado unlikely to get new seat in Congress after 2010
• Five candidates take no-earmark pledge, advocacy group says
• Corporate tax break costs Colorado $20 million a year, study says
• Infection rates in Colorado Springs hospitals in line with national average

The government belongs to you. The law says so. Much of the material on this page is a result of Gazette journalists exercising their legal rights to closely monitor what the government is doing, and then making the information available to everyone.

But laws mandating government transparency don't belong only to journalists. They belong to everyone, including you. If you want to know how the government is spending your money, or whom it's holding in jail, or how lawmakers voted on a controversial issue, the information is yours for the asking.

To find out what the government's up to, contact an elected official and ask for help getting the information. If you get the run-around, get in touch with The Gazette and we'll try to advise. Illegally withholding information could be the basis for a news story, or it could be a misunderstanding that's easily resolved once you're connected with the right person.

Some organizations that fight for your right to know:

National Freedom of Information Coalition
Open The Government
Center for Responsive Politics
Federation of American Scientists